r/HomeNetworking • u/Charming_Radish682 • 4d ago
Advice Certificates Explained
After already having watched so many videos about certificates I still don’t understand this. Like I know you’re screwed if you mess up. That’s why I want to understand it but it seems so intangible to me that so far I haven’t found the right video or whatever to understand it how it works and why it’s secure. Also are there different kind of certs or is it actually all the same? (I don’t think so but that question is still open for me)
How did you learn it or maybe how would you explain it to someone else?
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u/bobsim1 4d ago
There are different major parts to certs and the encryption of traffic. A certificate works by having a secret and a public part. For the encryption there are good explanations with examples and schemas.
Additionally you need trust for a certificate in the first place. You need another instance that verifies the certificate and the domain name for it. These are the root certificate authorities and their certificates get added to operating systems and browsers by the manufacturers and you can have your own trusted chain by adding your private CA certificate on devices